The window was open as Shrig entered his room. The wind brought in a chill that made no difference to the frost spreading across his skin.
He hurried to close it, muttering about how spring was going to be late this year. His curtains fell to a stop as the air stopped pushing through.
Shrignold grumbled at the sight of his origami creatures fighting each other. A swan had picked up a cat, then dropped it on a paper dog. The two flightless objects began jumping at the bird, but it was no use.
He grabbed the bird from the air, trapping it in his hands. He whispered to it calmly. “Be nice, or I’ll stop folding the boxes.”
The swan had escaped his grasp and perched itself onto one of the aforementioned boxes- a magic paper cube that glowed surprisingly well.
Sitting down at his desk chair, he opened up his journal. Notes were scattered across the page. In the past, people have mentioned how neat his handwriting was, making even his worst work look nice, but he knew it wasn’t as great as they said. Not to him, at least.
He grabbed a square sheet of paper and began folding it, creasing its edges sharply. Fold after fold, he worked slowly. Experimenting the origami would definitely be better with a reference, but it wouldn’t be the same as the creations he made from heart and memory.
Time passed, and the paper sat in front of him- a tiny, impossible to hold closed triangle.
An origami dog barked, sending a small whistling sound through the air. Shrignold turned to investigate, and was greeted by the dog stuck on the very top of Shrig’s shelf.
He stood. “This is the second time this week. Can’t you guys just get along for one hour?”
As he reached up to grab the dog, his hand shook violently. He grabbed it- muttering again. “Not again, I’m so sick of this. Swan- get him down now.”
The bird flew and picked the dog up, dropping it gently onto the floor. The rest of the origami creatures perked up at Shrignold’s sudden change in emotion.
They watched as ice spiked violently up his arm. He fell to the ground, shakily trying to break off the ice with his free hand.
To no avail- he was unsuccessful. Accepting his typical routine, he lied down and curled up as the paper animals attempted to comfort him.
